Aussie shares in big rally; NZ shares stay down

UPDATED: The Australian stock exchange has had a big mid-afternoon rally, moving into positive territory after falling more than 5% earlier in the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 index has climbed above 4000 points, a major turnaround from a few hours ago when it was 5.3% lower. It closed 1.2% at 4034.80.

The rally has been driven by BHP Billiton  as well as the big Australian banks.

New Zealand's stock market hasn't had the same lift, staying about 2.7% lower. 

UPDATED 3.45pm: New Zealand shares are 3.88% lower in late afternoon trade, after failing to find any good news in the global situation. The Australian stock market, which plunged on opening, was heading lower, trading down 4.6%.

UPDATED- The Australian stock market has taken a hammering, following global markets down.

The S&P/ASX 200 index has fallen 4.35%, down 173.2 points to 3812.9.

Financial stocks haven't fared as badly as the rest of the index, however.

National Australia Bank, BNZ’s parent, dropped 3.35%, down 70Ac to $A20.20 Commonwealth Bank, owner of ASB, dropped 2.7%, down $A1.23 to $A44.39 and ANZ Bank dropped 2.5%, down 47Ac to $A18.03.

Westpac fell 4.35%, down 82Ac to $A18.02, while fund manager AMP dropped 4.1%, down 16Ac to $A3.72.

Mining stocks have been worst affected, with a number of companies experiencing double-digit drops.

Aquila Resources dropped 11.4%, down 61Ac to $A4.74, Extract Resources dropped 11.3%, down 79Ac to $A6.20 and Iluka Resources dropped 10.5%, down $A1.53 to $13.08.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 has fallen further, dropping 112.09 points to 3,073.363, a fall of 3.52% that has wiped more than $1.3 billion off the value of the index.

The NZX 50 has dropped 3% in early trading, following further falls in world markets overnight.

The index fell 3.0% in the first few minutes of trading today, dropping below 3100 points for the first time in nearly a year.

At about 10.30 this morning it was down 90.01 points to 3,095.441, a drop of 2.83%.

Stocks across the board have declined, with Fisher & Paykel Appliances, down 6.1% to 54c, suffering the biggest fall.

Its cousin Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has also been hit hard, down 4.3% to $2.20, while Mainfreight (down 5.05% to $9.40), Skellerup (down 4.9% to $1.16), Kathmandu (down 4.8% to $2.00) and New Zealand Oil and Gas (down 4.7% to 61c) have had similar falls.

No stocks have gone up in price.